


Tis' the Season

by BatmanWhoLaughss



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Christmas, Fluff, Gift Giving, Holidays, Idiots in Love, Kanan is a Dork, Life Day (Star Wars), Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatmanWhoLaughss/pseuds/BatmanWhoLaughss
Summary: Kanan always hated Life Day.As a kid, he loved it. It felt… peaceful, in a way that he’s sorry he ever took for granted. But after the Purge, Life Day became bitter, a reminder of everything he lost and everything he missed from his childhood.But then he met Hera, and everything changed.-----Some fluffy Kanera for the holiday season :)
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 13
Kudos: 57





	Tis' the Season

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays from the galaxy's best space parents <3 (and from me!!)

Kanan always hated Life Day. 

As a kid, he loved it. It was the one day a year where the Padawans didn’t have any training or responsibilities, and he could spend time with his friends. It felt… peaceful, in a way that he’s sorry he ever took for granted. But after the Purge, Life Day became bitter, a reminder of everything he lost and everything he missed from his childhood. He used to spend it getting as drunk as he possibly could, and maybe finding a good fight or someone to spend the night with before stumbling home the next day. 

But then he met Hera, and everything changed. 

This isn’t their first Life Day together, but this time last year they were busy liberating a warehouse full of Imperial supplies and couldn’t actually celebrate. He had hoped, before they got the call, to do something special. But by the time the job was done, they didn’t have the energy to do much of anything except collapse in a messy tangle of limbs and fall asleep. 

This year, though, Kanan’s determined, and that’s how he finds himself standing in front of what has to be the  _ slowest _ shopkeeper of all time. 

“But you do have it, right?” Hera sent him out for supplies, and he only has a precious few hours before she starts wondering where he got to. He’s already gotten all the standard stuff, but this particular vendor happens to be the  _ only _ one in the parsec that carries a specific item of interest. 

“Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on, pretty boy, I’ve got it right here.” The shopkeeper holds up a small box, and Kanan grabs it out of the woman’s hand before she can change her mind. He tosses a few credit chips into her hand, muttering a small thank you before turning and heading back towards the Phantom. 

When he gets inside, he opens the box, peering inside to take stock of the contents. It’s exactly what he’s been hoping to find for months, what he’s been scouring the galaxy for whenever Hera’s back was turned. Ever since she mentioned it once in passing at the end of a bad day, it’s been sitting in the back of Kanan’s head. 

It’s a small bottle of a drink that Kanan can’t pronounce the name of, but that’s  _ incredibly _ hard to find anywhere other than Ryloth, sitting alongside two fruits with a similarly difficult name. Hera mentioned loving them as a child and missing them since she left home, due to the rarity and the fact that they’re  _ expensive as all kriffing hell _ . As Kanan starts the Phantom’s ignition sequence, he feels a bizarre mixture of excitement and trepidation all at once. He hopes she’ll like it, and he’s almost certain that it’ll make her happy. But at the same time, he wonders whether he’s overstepping. Or maybe she’ll think he’s crazy when she learns that he’s so far gone for her that he remembers every random offhand comment she’s ever made. 

Kanan sighs loudly, securing the small box next to him as he heads home, trying to calm the swirling mix of feelings raging in his head. Still, he can’t help but smile, because this is the first time he’s actually been excited for Life Day since he was thirteen.

\----------

Hera swallows thickly, twirling the small disk in between her fingers as she watches the stars from the pilot’s chair. 

Kanan got back an hour ago, but short of checking in briefly with her when he came home, she hasn’t seen him. She doesn’t know what he’s doing, but she’s kind of glad he didn’t insist on keeping her company like he sometimes did. It would’ve made it harder to keep this a secret from him. 

Hera Syndulla has a complicated relationship with Life Day. Back on Ryloth, before the war, her family used to make Life Day a big ordeal. The entire Syndulla clan would gather for days of celebration, and all the children would spend hours playing together. She only has vague memories of those days, but she still misses the times before the war, when things were happier. 

After she left Ryloth, Life Day just became another day for making Imperials’ lives hell. This year, she’s hoping that things can be different. Now she actually has someone to  _ spend _ life day with, and thinking about giving that someone the present currently resting in her palm is making her skin flush a dark green. She had to make some calls to get it, and her father was  _ very _ confused by what she asked for, but she hopes it’ll be worth it in the end. She hopes he’ll actually like it, and she’s trying not to let her thoughts spiral out of control. 

As if on cue, she hears the cockpit door whoosh open behind her, and she hastily shoves the small object into her pocket as Kanan walks up behind her. “Anything interesting?” he asks, resting his hands on her shoulders and gently kneading them with his thumbs. 

Hera tilts her head back to look up at him. “Not really. Everything’s quiet in this system.” She smiles at him as his hands start working out all the kinks in her sore muscles. “Where have you been?”

Kanan shrugs, before leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Been busy. C’mon, I’ll show you.” 

She raises an eyebrow at him, but he seems unusually happy, even though she can see a layer of apprehension hidden there. She always likes seeing him in a good mood, so she shrugs, rising up from the chair and letting him lead her back towards the common room. 

When they get there, Hera gasps, taking in the space around them. Tiny strings of lights are hung all around the space, making the whole room sparkle in a brilliant mix of colors. Sitting in the corner is a small tree, similarly decorated with lights and baubles. There are two plates sitting on the small dejarik table, covered with lids so they stay warm. It’s  _ beautiful,  _ and she has no idea when the hell he had time to pull it off.

“Kanan, what– what is all this?” Hera can’t help but let out a small laugh as she smiles.

He’s watching her face, rubbing the back of his neck with flushed cheeks and a sheepish grin. “I just. Y’know. It’s Life Day,” he mumbles, his face getting even redder. “Thought we should do… something nice.” 

Hera’s hand is subtly drifting towards where the small holodisk rests in her pocket as her smile gets bigger. “It’s amazing, love,” she says, moving closer and leaning up to kiss his cheek. “But you didn’t have to do all this.” 

Kanan shrugs. “I wanted to. It’s been… a while since I’ve had a reason to do anything for Life Day.” His face falls for a moment, and she knows he’s thinking back to old memories of childhood in the same way she is. So she grabs his hand before he can dwell on it too much, pulling him towards the booth with a smile. 

“C’mon then. Let’s eat whatever you made for me before it gets cold.” Then her brow furrows as a thought occurs to her. “What did you say to Chopper to get him to leave us alone?” 

Kanan chuckles. “I told him I’d give him an oil bath on our next day off. He seemed more agreeable than usual.” 

They eat mostly in comfortable silence, broken by the occasional whispered conversation about mundane topics. It’s peaceful, and Hera can’t help but admire the way his face looks as the colorful light hits it at exactly the right angle. It’s a kind of peace they rarely have, even on their days off. There’s always something that needs to be done, some message that needs answering or some repair to be taken care of, and they never get to spend as much time together as she would like. 

They drift closer and closer until their arms are touching, and when both their plates are clear, Hera leans her head on his shoulder. “You’ve been holding out on me,” she murmurs in a low voice. “You should cook like this all the time.” 

Kanan laughs, leaning his head against hers. “I’ll need a raise if you want this kind of quality every day.” 

It’s the kind of easy banter she’s used to hearing from him, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that makes her lift her head to frown at him. “You okay?” 

Kanan nods, but he rubs at the back of his neck again– his tell for when he’s nervous, Hera knows. “I’m fine.” He reaches down underneath the table to pull out a small box that had been resting on the floor, and Hera’s eyebrow climbs again. His face flushes red as he mumbles. “I just– I wanted to– I got you something.” It comes out in a rush as he sets the box on the table, his blush getting deeper. 

Hera can’t help but let out a small gasp of surprise. She got  _ him _ a present, of course, but she never expected that he would get her one in return. “You got me a present?”

“I did.” He’s still blushing, staring at her with a hopeful, yet nervous expression that’s impossibly endearing. “Open it?”

Her smile gets bigger as she fumbles with the box, and when she finally gets it open she stares down at the contents in pure shock. Her hand comes to rest over her mouth, and when she looks up at him again, her eyes are shining.  _ How did he… You can’t find this  _ anywhere _ , and how did he even  _ know _ … when _ –

“I remembered you saying once,” he says, seeming to mistake her awed, overwhelmed surprise for a negative reaction. He’s talking faster now, his nerves getting the better of him. “You mentioned that you used to love that drink and that fruit– I  _ cannot _ pronounce the names– as a kid on Ryloth, and, well… you said it was hard to find, and it took a while, but eventually I tracked it down. At least I  _ think _ I got the right thing, I’m not exactly sure–” 

Hera cuts off his rambling by  _ hurling _ herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him so tightly she wonders if he can still breathe. But he doesn’t complain; instead he lets out a nervous laugh and hugs her back. 

“It’s  _ perfect _ . How in the hell did you manage to remember that? Let alone track this stuff down?” 

Kanan’s blush comes back as he glances down at his lap. “I remember everything you say,” he mumbles, and if she wasn’t about to cry before, she definitely is now. “And it took a while, but eventually an old contact was able to come through.” 

“I love it. Thank you. Really, I… I think this is the nicest gift anyone’s ever given me.” It’s the truth; she didn’t think it was possible to care about this man any more than she already does, but every day he manages to do something to prove her wrong. 

He’s nervous-laughing again, but his smile is the biggest she’s seen in a long time, and the way he’s looking at her makes her want to forget about everything she had planned and drag him towards the nearest bunk instead.

But the holodisk is burning a hole in her pocket, and suddenly she feels a wave of insecurity well up as she swallows. She can’t help but think that her gift seems distressingly small by comparison. 

“I… got you something too,” Hera says. The way his whole body seems to perk up in a way that’s almost childlike makes her practically  _ melt. _

“You did?” He sounds so excited, and she can’t help but wonder how long it’s been since anyone has actually given him a gift, if they ever had. 

She nods, pulling the holodisk out of her pocket and setting it down on the table. Kanan raises an eyebrow, but he’s still smiling, staring at her with that excited expression that’s rapidly becoming her favorite. 

“It’s not as good as yours,” she says in a hurry, blushing dark green. “But I told you my father was friends with a Jedi? Well… I made a call. Turns out that he kept in touch with the Jedi who helped him on Ryloth over the years, and they became good friends. He had a bunch of old holorecordings from the old days. There was… one that I thought you’d really like to see.” 

Kanan’s wearing a curious expression now, but he still looks just as excited before. When Hera scoots closer to him and presses the button to play the message, he freezes, going rigid as Hera’s hand finds his shoulder. 

“Cham. It’s been a while.” Mace Windu’s voice is loud in the quiet space, and Kanan’s so stiff that she briefly wonders if she did something wrong. But his mouth is slightly open, and there’s something like awe in his eyes as he stares at Windu’s holographic body.

“Hera…” Kanan’s voice is thick with emotion, but she shushes him before he can finish. 

“Keep watching.” 

“I trust things on Ryloth have been progressing nicely,” Mace continued. “Things are quiet here as well. Although… you remember my former Padawan, Depa Billaba?”

Kanan sucks in a breath, his eyes growing even wider, if possible, and Hera reaches down to twine her fingers with his. She squeezes his hand as the message continues to play. 

“It seems she’s taken on a Padawan of her own. A youngling by the name of Caleb Dume.” Now Kanan’s so still that she wonders if he’s even breathing at all, but his eyes are shining and his mouth is open in such a look of pure wonder that it makes her ache. “He seems skilled enough, and strong with the Force, that much is clear. He’s also-” Mace breaks off to let out a small laugh. “He’s also  _ curious _ , almost infuriatingly so. He’s constantly questioning everything around him… I suppose that’s why Depa is drawn to the boy so much. She sees something in him, and even I have to admit he has the makings of an admirable Jedi. An… unconventional one, maybe. But an admirable one nonetheless.” 

The message fades out without warning, and Hera rushes to explain. “Some of them were kind of damaged. I’m working on restoring the ones my father sent over. There’s a little more to this one, but I’m not quite done cleaning it up yet. I‒” 

“Hera.” He cuts her off, and it’s only then that she notices the couple of stray tears that have trickled down his face. But he’s staring at her with the most awestruck expression she’s ever seen, and it makes any words die in her throat. “I… I don’t know what to say.” His voice breaks on the last word. “This is amazing.  _ Thank you _ .” There’s so much raw emotion in his voice that it makes her heart shudder. 

Hera smiles. “You never told me Windu was Billaba’s master.”

Now it’s Kanan’s turn to reach for her, pulling her close and pressing his lips to hers softly. She can’t sense emotions like he can, but his lips tell her everything he can’t say with his voice as they meld with hers. Hera’s arms wind around his neck as their lips keep moving, and in that moment the rest of the galaxy fades away and it’s just the two of them pressed up against each other. 

When they pull away, Kanan’s still wearing that big, dopey smile, and she suspects that her own grin mirrors his. She’s about to suggest they move this to one of their cabins, when Kanan catches sight of something hanging above their heads and barks out a laugh. 

“Mistletoe,” he says, jerking his head upwards. “I didn’t put that there, I swear.” Hera raises an eyebrow, and he blushes again. “Must be Chopper. I knew he was too cooperative before.” 

Hera rolls her eyes. She would laugh, but her mouth is soon otherwise occupied as she drags his mouth back to hers.


End file.
